"We
have to do it." Captain Ukitake was grinning widely, glancing at
the his fellow captains with a fiendish light in his eyes. The room
was spacious without being crass, lit well with a large, lacquered
table sitting in the center.

"I
agree. It's tradition." Shunsui smiled, sipping a sake cup
slowly.

Kenpachi
bared his teeth in what probably would have been a smile on a normal
looking person. "Well, hell, I'm always up for drinkin'."

"He's
only a boy." Unohana intoned softly, a disapproving look on her
gentle face.

"Come
now, Retsu." Aizen smiled affably, a chiding tone in his voice.
"There's nothing wrong with a little indulgence every now and
then."

"I
can't believe your going along with this, Aizen." Komamura
growled, his mask betraying nothing, but his voice was quite adamant
in its abhorrence to the idea. "You shouldn't force him into
anything."

"Well,
we couldn't force you to come with us," Shunsui acquiesced
lightly, a smile dancing upon his lips. "And we couldn't make
Kurotsuchi either." He added, nodding toward the empty seat. "But
still... it is tradition. Kurotsuchi came to his, even if we had to
force him into it. And besides, that kid needs to lighten up."

"Go
to hell." The Captain of the Eleventh snarled irritably, even as
chuckles arose from many of the other captains.

"This
is ridiculous. I can't believe you told me this was important
captain's business." Byakuya stood, his nose wrinkled in disgust.
"I should have known this was a farce when the General wasn't
here."

"Yeah,
ya should have, rich boy." Kenpachi chuckled, and the tone of his
voice seemed to be begging the head of the Kuchiki clan to a fight.

"Enough."
Unohana said slowly, cutting apart the tension with her usual grace,
"You may do as you like, but I, for one, will not consent to
allowing a mere boy to become inebriated."

"Tch.
You're no fun, woman." Kenpachi muttered. The Captain of the
Fourth Division paid him no heed as she walked out of the door, with
Byakuya following behind.

"I
want no part of this ridiculous venture." Byakuya said irritably,
stalking out the meeting.

"I
too, will refuse." Tousen, who had been quiet for the duration of
the meeting, said slowly. Komamura also stood, his stance clear
beforehand.

"Well,
how about you Soi?" Ukitake asked cheerily, turning toward the
petite captain. "Are you in?"

The
Covert Ops commander shrugged. "I have no duties that night. So I
suppose I should take this chance to relax. Besides," she added, a
hint of impish mischief in her voice, "It might be interesting to
see how our newest comrade fares."

"Don't
move." Soi Fong's unmistakable voice was right next to his ear,
her breath tickling his neck as she gripped Hyourinmaru. "Just come
with us quietly."

Desperate
and panicky, Hitsuguya turned toward his vice captain with a pleading
look.

If he
was expecting help, he was to suffer disappointment as Matsumoto
cracked a grin and shrugged slowly. "Sorry, Captain, but this is
tradition."

Hitsuguya
couldn't respond as Zaraki Kenpachi proceeded to pick him up and
literally frogmarch him out the door.

As he
was leaving, however, Hitsuguya found his voice again. "I'll make
you pay for this, Matsumoto!" he shouted, even as Ukitake laughed
and, along with Soi Fong, followed Kenpachi out of the Tenth Division
headquarters.

Matsumoto
grinned widely, watching their departing backs with a hint of envy.
"Damn, I wish I was a captain. I've heard these things get pretty
wild..."

---

"And
there's the boy-erm, man of the hour!" Shunsui cheered, raising
his cup with a wide, already partially drunken smile on his face. "I
see you had some trouble."

"Not
really." Ukitake replied, smiling back, nodding to Zaraki, who
tossed the young captain into the bar. "What with the help of
Kenpachi and Soi, and all."

Soi
Fong merely smirked, no doubt pleased that she had outmaneuvered the
young genius of the Tenth Division.

"Why
are you doing this!" Hitsuguya demanded, his hand straying to
Hyourinmaru's hilt- only to find it missing. "And where's-"

"Quit
yer yappin', kid. It's right here." Zaraki grumbled, downing a
rather large quantity of booze while waving Hyourinmaru about.
"You'll get it back after this."

"And
what, exactly, is this?" Hitsuguya snarled, gazing about. From the
corner, Captain Gin waved to him, that usual smile on his face.

"A
tradition." Shunsui inclined his head sagely. "All new captains
must drink with their comrades. It's an initiation of sorts. We all
went through it... even Kurotsuchi."

Hitsuguya
looked at the cup as though it were poisoned. "I don't want to."

"Captain
Zaraki..." the Captain of the Thirteenth began, but Hitsuguya,
realizing that the partly drunk Zaraki Kenpachi would no doubt enjoy
forcing booze down his throat, grabbed the cup.

"I'll
drink it!" he snarled, taking a slow, cautious sip. After a brief
moment, he coughed, and drops of sake splattered onto the floor.

"What
a waste." Shunsui clucked his tongue, shaking his head.

"A
damn shame." Zaraki muttered, grabbing another whole bottle for
himself. He grinned, kneeling till he was face to face with
Hitsuguya. "Can't hold yer liquor, kid?" he taunted, taking a
long swig. "Guess you ain't as grown up as you always say you
are."

"I'm
not going to be goaded into this." The Captain of the Tenth replied
frigidly.

"Right.
That's why we thought we'd have to do this." Shunsui smirked,
and Hitsuguya turned toward Gin, who had been muttering something
under his breath the whole time.

"Besides,"
Ukitake continued, smiling amiably, "We're Captains of the Gotei
Thirteen, leaders of Shinigami. We are the law."

"Here
here!" Gin chortled, raising his glass. "So 'nless ya wanna
arrest yerself, shut up and drink!" and with he passed Hitsuguya a
drink that, as he discovered three seconds later, burned even worse
than the sake.

After
that... well, Hitsuguya could never be quite sure what did happened
afterward. He distinctly remembered a very drunken, accidental kiss
between Soi Fong and Kenpachi, which caused Ukitake to have a
fainting spell, Shunsui spilling sake, and Gin merely chortling at
managed to use Shinso to slice a leg off of Kenpachi's chair and
causing the Captain of the Eleventh to stumble straight into Soi
Fong's lips (or rather, he fell straight on top of them, but no one
was quibbling over it).

But
the sheer horror and wrongness of that moment made Hitsuguya never
want to confirm if it really happened or not. And neither party
seemed eager to broach the subject.

They
were thrown out soon after- whether due to the blasts of reiatsu Soi
Fong fired at Gin, or the roaring sword swipes that Kenpachi used, or
the fact that Shunsui had hit on every woman in the bar, including
the proprietor's daughter and wife, no one could clearly
say.

Of
course, turning several drunken Shinigami onto the streets,
especially Captains with the power to level numerous small towns on
their own, is never a good idea.

And
in the end, Hitsuguya gained nothing except a hangover, a distaste
for alcohol, several rather odd smelling stains on his uniform that
he prayed were alcohol, and a twelve day journey to try and find
Hyourinmaru that involved several shady shops, numerous people
injured by an angry Hitsuguya, and a pawn shop owner who disappeared
shortly after (however, a very lifelike ice sculpture was donated to
decorate the Kuchiki courtyard).

Needless
to say, he hasn't forgiven the other captains to this day.

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